NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

"Land is always acquired by someone and later (eventually) transferred to someone else!"

It is important to remember this statement when doing genealogical research. It is one of two genealogical basic truths or facts. The other one is that if someone died they were born or, conversely, if someone was born they eventually died. When you are researching and you find a record of land being obtained or being disposed of for someone, then you need to find the other end of land ownership. A will or estate probate might transfer land to a child... a great find, since you can look for how the deceased obtained that property and then how the son disposed of that property. Brick walls can be knocked down when you use this rule to find both ends of land ownership.

Often in our research, we find where the family lived in one county and later were living in another county (sometimes a distance away from the first county). In this case, generally, they disposed of the property in that original county and bought new property in the new county. It is important to find that diposal of the first county's property and then find when they obtained property in the new county. Sometimes, you will discover that they actually did not move, but rather the county boundaries changed and new counties were formed that separated the two counties on the map of more modern times. For example Kentucky once had three counties covering the majority of the state... new counties were formed out of each one making the original county smaller & smaller until it reached its size (and location) of today. It is possible for property to begin in Knox County, Indiana and end up being in about four other counties due to new counties being formed out of older ones. Important note: records concerning that property will be found in the county courthouse of where that property existed at the time of the creation of that record. Thus making it appear that the family moved from county to county, property to property... when in fact they could have lived on the same piece of land and possibly in the same house!

- Composed by JGWest

"New Archive of Georgia Newspaper: 1826-1908"

Joseph Frick

The Columbus Public Library Blog of Columbus, GA, recently announced the availability of a new archive of digitized newspapers - the Georgia Historic Newspapers site which has the issues of the Macon Telegraph from 1826-1908. You can read the announcement at http://tinyurl.com/ohbu9t. As one who loves newspaper research, I usually explore archives in-depth for items pertaining to my genealogical interests. In methods very similar to today's newspapers, stories would get picked up nationally, so events in one place, were often reported on in far away places.


In doing some searching on items pertinent to Evansville, I discovered the following item published in the March 16, 1886 issue: "Joseph Frick fell dead at his home in Evansville, Ind., his death having been hastened by his failure to secure a promised government appointment."


I began to search to see if I could find out more about this Joseph Frick. The first place I checked was Ancestry's database of Indiana Deaths from 1882-1920 (available with a subscription at http://tinyurl.com/od77kh0) - nope, not there!. I located a Joseph K. Frick born abt. 1826 in the 1880 census in Vanderburgh County, but at this point, couldn't say for certain that this is the same gentleman. This Joseph K. Frick was an architect and emigrated to the United States from Switzerland and lived with brother Peter and Peter's family. In 1900, I find Peter again, but of the Frick's I locate in Vanderburgh County, none are named Joseph. A nationwide census search for any Joseph Frick's born abt 1826 in Switzerland yields no results either. A nationwide FindAGrave search did not find him either, though FindAGrave is far from exhaustive. As I continued to search for information about the family, I found an online biography of Peter's son Omar T. Frick that states Peter was born in Rhea, Switzerland and came to the United States in 1868. The 1900 census indicates Peter emigrated in 1856 however, so there is some discrepancy there. I also found an online newsletter that has a profile of another of Peter & Susan's sons, Walter P. Frick at http://tinyurl.com/o5azla, and it even mentions that Walter P. lived with his uncle Joseph at one point.


With another search, I located some information about Joseph K. Frick the architect at a blog post at http://tinyurl.com/qhecqp and it turns out he designed the county courthouse in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky! I've had personal dealings with this courthouse - one day while traveling to Evansville, my husband got a speeding ticket in Christian County and we had to send the fines to their courthouse. What a small world! That blog post led me to his biography in the online text book, Evansville & It's Men of Mark (available online). At the time the biography was written in 1873, Joseph K. Frick was still alive.


Then, as I was preparing for bed, I realized that I needed to search the online databases of Locust Hill & Oak Hill Cemeteries that the city makes available online and lo and behold -- Joseph K. Frick, born in Switzerland, is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Section 31, Lot 14, Grave 4 and the database confirms he died March of 1886. He was buried March 4, 1886. He died of heart disease. It looks like he is buried there with Peter and Peter's wife Susan, as well as several other family members. I went ahead and created a FindAGrave memorial for Joseph Frick; perhaps next time I'm in town, I'll go take a picture of the Frick family burial location as well. I may also go to Willard Library to see if the Evansville papers have a more extensive obituary.


So, when you see an announcement for a new resource - check it out - you never know what you'll find!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Tombstone Thursday - Peach

Hezekiah King & Bessie E. Peach

The grandparents of Becky West are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Hezeking (Hezekiah King) died on 07 Feb 1958. This two are the parents of Becky's birth mother (she is buried in Oak Hill). Becky was adopted before age 2 by another family also at Oak Hill Cemetery.

-Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

Celebrating the Capture of Fort Sackville

Vincennes Rendezvous

23-24 May 2009

Vincennes, Indiana

The re-enactment battles are really cool to watch. They have a Fife & Drum Corps that perform on the battle ground as well as throughout the park. The cannons set off all of the car alarms & the blast of the muskets make this event seem real. Soldiers representing England, France, Germany (to list a few) plus the colonist & Indians with women & children all dressed in period attire, makes this event a great family historical, educational & entertaining outing.

The above photo is of our Indiana Society Sons of the American Revolution's tent at the Rendezvous with a lot of Colonial flags. The red & green striped flag behind & to the right of the tent is the George Rogers Clark flag that they carried when his men captured Ft. Sackville. TSGS member, Becky West (dressed in a red top), is standing in front of the brochure table. Click on the photos to get an enlarged view.

- Photos taken (2008) & submitted by JGWest

"Going in Style"

John Brinkley's Hearse

My husband and I are members of Rolling Thunder Chapter 6, which is a Veteran and MIA-POW Organization. John Brinkley helped start our local Chapter 6 of Rolling Thunder. He died of cancer weeks ago and his cremains were buried at the Indiana Veterans National Cemetery in Madison, Indiana on May 16th 2009. Nine members of Chapter #6, including myself and my husband Kevin, went to the memorial service. John Brinkley went in style and with the respect he deserved. If you gotta go, go in style. [When my time comes, I hope my hearse is as awesome as the one pictured. Of course I can wait, I am in no hurry. - Dee]

L-R:(front Row) Kevin Hines, Kenny Eaton, John Berry, and Glen Westphal. (Back Row) Doretha Diefenbach-Hines, David King, Marie Miller, Michelle Berry and Roy Holder.

- Submitted by Doretha "Dee" Diefenbach-Hines

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

Evansville, Indiana Fire Department

Hose House #8

Dedication Plaque

Each of Evansville's Hose Houses (Engine Houses, Fire Stations) have a dedication plaque like the one above... many also list the City Council members, as well. I believe this is the oldest Hose House at this time - it was erected in 1955.

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

Marriage of Helen Cook & Frank R. Laughlin


The April 30, 1904 issue of the Paducah Sun newspaper reported the following wedding of Helen Cook and Frank Laughlin [1].


"Mr. [sic] Helen Cook, the oldest daughter of Mr. Frank W. Cook of the Cook Brewing Company of Evansville and Mr. Frank Laughlin, also of Evansville, were married Tuesday afternoon in Evansville. Miss Mary Lee Clarke of this city attended the wedding."


As reported in the announcement, Ms. Cook was the eldest daughter of Frederick Washington Cook (1832-1913) [2], a prominent businessman in Evansville and head of the Cook Brewing Company and a former Evansville councilman. A nice overview of Mr. Cook's background appears in the books History of the City of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana [3] and Evansville and its Men of Mark [4], both available in their entirety for free at Google Books. Record of Helen & Frank's marriage appears in Ancestry's Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 [5].


In 1910, Helen & Frank still reside in Evansville with Helen's father at 1002 Fulton Avenue and the couple have had son Frank Jr. Frank Sr.'s occupation is listed as Real Estate Agent. By 1920, the couple are living on their own as Helen's father has died by now, though, Helen's brother Albert lives only a few doors away. By 1930, the family has moved to Chicago, Illinois where Frank's occupation is now listed as a securities buyer. The family eventually ended up in Memphis; a search of the Browning Database reveals that Frank died there July 2, 1953 and Helen died there April 20, 1969 [6].


I'm sure there must have been a much more extensive write-up of the couple's wedding in the Evansville papers, but even this would likely make a nice addition to any Cook family descendant researcher for their family history.



Sources
1) "Untitled." Paducah Sun [Paducah, KY] 30 Apr. 1904. Library of Congress Chronicling America.
2) Frederick W. Cook: FindAGrave.
3) Gilbert, Frank M. History of the City of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana. Chicago: Pioneer Pub. Co, 1910.
4) White, Edward, and Robert Dale Owen. Evansville and Its Men of Mark. Evansville, Ind: Historical Pub. Co, 1873.
5) Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941. Ancestry.
6) Browning Genealogy: Evansville, IN Area Obituary Search.

Back in March, we shared a link to a site that provides details about Evansville's brewing history from the Brewer's Guild of Indiana .

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce